The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI), through the Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council (NXPO), has partnered with AIS Academy and IRIS Consulting to introduce the Thailand AI Readiness Index (TARI). As Thai organizations seek to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into their operations, this index serves as the nation’s first framework to evaluate organizational preparedness across personnel, skills, data, processes, governance, and corporate culture. The initiative invites cross-industry participation to establish a national benchmarking database to support the country’s transition toward an AI-driven economy.
Professor Dr. Yodchanan Wongsawat, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of MHESI, stated that AI adoption is a determining factor for long-term national competitiveness across the economy, industry, innovation, and the workforce. The TARI initiative is designed to provide the government with a systematic overview of current AI readiness, which will serve as a foundational dataset for designing targeted policies and business support programs.
Kantima Lerlertyuttitham, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Corporate Officer at AIS, noted that the primary challenge for modern organizations is not the availability of technology, but uncertainty regarding operational readiness and the methods required to generate measurable business impact.
Reflecting on internal AI integration at AIS—which covers AI literacy, workforce upskilling, and enterprise product expansion—Ms. Kantima emphasized that transitioning into the AI era requires an operational understanding of human capital, data, and workflows rather than technology investment alone.
Through this collaborative effort, TARI has been established as a standardized tool to assist Thai organizations in identifying capability gaps and structuring their AI adoption strategies, shifting the competitive focus toward effective utilization rather than the sheer volume of AI assets.
Dr. Surachai Sathitkunarat, President of NXPO, highlighted that existing data on AI adoption readiness in Thailand remains fragmented, complicating macro-level policy development. NXPO will utilize aggregated insights from TARI to analyze and develop specific industry support measures while maintaining data governance to protect participating organizations.
Boriwat Pinpradab, Chairman at IRIS Consulting, stated that many enterprises struggle to prioritize initial investments between human resources, data infrastructure, and workflow redesign, often failing to connect isolated AI projects to organization-wide results. TARI was co-developed by public and private stakeholders to serve as a standardized, realistic assessment framework and strategic roadmap for domestic enterprises.
Operationally, TARI establishes a standardized standard covering organizational, functional, and individual levels. The framework evaluates factors ranging from leadership vision and governance policies to workforce technical capabilities and active AI use cases.
The index structures its evaluation across eight specific dimensions: 1) AI strategy and leadership, 2) data management, 3) technology and infrastructure, 4) people and AI skills, 5) governance and risk, 6) AI use cases and business value creation, 7) organizational culture and change management, and 8) AI implementation and realized impact. Implementation will follow three sequential stages:
- Measure: Discerning operational strengths, capability gaps, and development priorities.
- Benchmark: Comparing organizational data against domestic industry peers.
- Activate: Converting index results into actionable development plans for workflows, training, and technology adoption.
More than 40 leading organizations have joined the initial pioneer group to develop the index. The program plans to expand to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and broader corporate supply chains, targeting the participation of 5,000 organizations in the first year and over 20,000 organizations in the subsequent phase.
Interested organizations can review the framework and register at the official portal () or monitor updates through the communications channels of NXPO, AIS Academy, and IRIS Consulting.
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